Is Steve McQueen’s Racing Suit Worth $300,000?

Profiles in History, a Los Angeles dealer and auction house that specializes in original historical autographs, letters, photographs and manuscripts, says it will auction the driving suit the late actor Steve McQueen wore in the 1971 auto-racing film Le Mans. Some motorsport aficionados say Le Mans is the best auto racing movie ever made.

Fans of McQueen, the film or racing in general will recognize the suit by its blue and orange stripes. They represented the Gulf Oil sponsorship of the Porsche 917 racecars that competed in the actual 1970 Le Mans race that served as the film’s backdrop. McQueen drove a similar car in the movie.

The suit is adorned with sponsorship patches from Gulf, Firestone and Heuer Chronograph, and has the name of McQueen’s character, Michael Delaney, stitched in blue thread.

As the story goes, when filming of Le Mans ended the production company donated the suit to the British newspaper, The Observer to be a prize in a contest. By answering three Le Mans history questions correctly, 12-year-old Timothy Davies of Wolverhampton, England, won the contest and the suit. Which is still in “excellent condition,” the auction company says, and is expected to fetch between $200,000 and $300,000.

Estimates mean little, however, when you are talking about Steve McQueen’s former possessions. A few years ago a pair of his sunglasses sold for $70,000. And when it comes to motor vehicles it is hard to keep up with the ever-growing “McQueen multiple” that indicates what bidders will pay for a cars and motorcycles the late actor owned, compared with run-of-the-mill versions of the same vehicles.

The sale of an ex-McQueen 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso in 2007 for $2.3 million set the multiple at about 10, which seemed outlandish at the time. But last spring a bidder paid $144,500 for a 1971 Husqvarna 400 Cross motorcycle the actor once owned. The price was about 20 times what any other 400 Cross would fetch.

By August, though, the multiple was up to 40. A 1969 Porsche 911S that McQueen drove in off-track scenes in the the Le Mans film sold at auction last summer for nearly $1.4 million.

The racing suit may not be a car, but its strong association with the movie and the man could lead to runaway bidding.